Friday, August 15, 2014

The Happiness Project - Gretchen Reuben

Another one I read 6 months back, seems so so long ago! Lying in the drafts since then..

Didn't like it overall.

The author looks at her reasonably happy middle class life and decides to consciously focus on improving her happiness. She goes about it as a one year project, and focusses on a different aspect each month. She also chalks out project aids like charts etc to keep things measurable and on track. She also makes it quite clear that the focus areas she picked are very personal to her and aren't a prescription for everyone else, however the 12 month format, and the tools are often prescriptive. Many people have tried their own happiness projects following her template and the book is a best seller.

In some ways I had started my own happiness project many years ago, at least starting with a conscious focussing on happiness. At that time, this blog was one of my project aids. I didn't follow it with quite the rigor of a professional project though, and over the years, the focus rose and ebbed. I guess its a good idea to consciously focus on happiness, after all isn't that what we are all chasing. The reason I found this book somewhat underwhelming, is that it starts with what seemed to me to be rather band aid solutions. Of course, a band aid is better than nothing, but perhaps I expected more!